I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 130 Zhang Juzheng Returns to Beijing
September in the autumn of the 44th year of the Jiajing reign.

Not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather suddenly turned cold.

At Anzhen Gate, a group of people hurriedly came from the north.

The military officer guarding the gate and his soldiers rushed forward to stop them.

"dismount!"

The group of people pulled the reins and stopped. The military officer guarding the gate then saw a man in the team wearing a scarlet official uniform. His heart skipped a beat, and when he took a closer look, he saw a peacock embroidered on the patch on his chest.

Damn, this is a minister!
There was another person behind him, also wearing a scarlet official robe with a cloud goose embroidered on his chest. He was also a fourth-rank official.

The captain's legs went limp, and he knelt down with a plop: "Captain Chen Shengbiao, the gatekeeper of Anzhen Gate, greets Master Shangguan."

"No problem!" The third-rank official rolled over and said, "According to the court's laws, except for the emperor's envoys, anyone entering or leaving the Nine Gates must dismount from their horses and sedan chairs for inspection.

Come down, everyone.

"Yes!" the follower responded.

"I am Zhang Juzheng, the Minister of War, who has just returned from a business trip to Liaodong. This is Fang Fengshi, the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. These are our badges."

Zhang Juzheng and Fang Fengshi handed the badges to their attendants, who handed them to Captain Chen Shengbiao.

Chen Shengbiao jumped up, took the badge respectfully with both hands, glanced at it, and returned it respectfully with both hands.

"I have checked everything and it is correct. Please invite the Minister and the Censor to enter the city."

Zhang Juzheng and Fang Fengshi threw the reins to their followers and walked into Anzhen Gate side by side.

"Brother Jinhu (Fang Fengshi), two months ago, you had just returned to Beijing from your post as the deputy military envoy of Guangdong to report on your work, and I dragged you to Liaodong. It took two months of wind and rain, and you traveled thousands of miles. Please don't blame me."

Fang Fengshi laughed loudly, "Uncle, you are too polite. We are all working for the country, no matter who we are. It's just that these dirty things we found in Liaodong are a bit difficult to deal with."

Zhang Juzheng looked solemn, "Yes, it is indeed difficult. I originally thought that Liaodong was not far from the capital, and the matter was of great importance to Chahar and Jianzhou Jurchen. No matter how chaotic the people below were, they would not dare to go too far. I never thought that these guys were so shameless."

"Uncle, you'll get used to it. It's like this everywhere in the country. The emperor is far away. The local gentry is the emperor. They collude with the clerks, cover up everything, and do whatever they want.

Officials in the imperial court all have a term of office. When their term of office is over, they are transferred to other places. Therefore, many local officials do not want to cause trouble and pretend to be deaf and dumb. Some officials have some responsibility and want to manage, but they are manipulated by these bastards, who deceive their subordinates and deceive their superiors, making them powerless.

Sometimes they would use their connections to find the censor, fabricate a crime, and report it harshly. According to the court's rules, the inspectors would come to inquire about the people's sentiments first, and they would ask these gentry. Do you think they would say anything good?

As a result, officials who wanted to get things done and get rid of old abuses could only leave in disgrace. "

The two walked side by side on the street, chatting.

Zhang Juzheng was silent for a while and then replied, "I have been staying in the capital for a long time, serving in various noble positions, and I don't know the practical affairs and the local conditions. I only knew that the Ming Dynasty had many problems, but I didn't expect that the problems would reach this level.

Last year, I went to Liaodong for a quick inspection and investigated some bad policies, feeling quite proud of myself. Later, I went to Xuanda again, and with the guidance of Senior Ruzhen, I took a thorough inspection and realized that the local problems, especially the corruption at the border, had reached a point where they had to be corrected.

This time, I took the opportunity to follow the court's nine-border defense preparation plan and went to Liaodong again, only to discover these shocking and dirty things. "

Fang Fengshi waved his hand and said, "No more, no more. I can't finish talking about these dirty things in three days and three nights."

"Yes, it's useless to talk. We must make up our minds to change!" Zhang Juzheng said in a firm tone.

Fang Fengshi glanced at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "Uncle, this matter is of great importance. The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the local governors are all involved. Each of them is not a good person. Have you thought about how to change it?"

Zhang Juzheng pondered for more than ten breaths, then said, "I will go to the posthouse first, wash up, and then go to the cabinet."

"Go to the cabinet first." Fang Fengshi's voice was a little vague.

Zhang Juzheng understood the meaning of Fang Fengshi's words and said, "Brother Jinhu, I am on a mission out of Beijing this time. I was sent by the cabinet to supervise the implementation of the Nine Border Defense Plans. When I return to Beijing, I must report to the cabinet and report to the cabinet."

Fang Fengshi smiled and nodded, "That's true. This time, I went out of the capital with my uncle to do business. I was ordered by the Censorate to perform the duties of an imperial censor. When I return to the capital, I will report to the Censorate."

After saying that, Fang Fengshi bowed and said, "Uncle is going to the post house, and I'm going to the Censorate. We just happened to part ways here."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned, "Brother Jinhu, aren't you going to the posthouse to wash and change clothes?" Fang Fengshi looked at his dusty official uniform, discolored official boots, and the black gauze official hat with yellow and white sweat stains. He then lifted up his robe and put it under his nose to smell it.

The sour smell of sweat hits my nose.

Fang Fengshi nodded with satisfaction, "Well, this is what I want. Mr. Wang loves cleanliness the most. If I sit in front of him, he will probably send me out in less than half an hour.

I can save myself the trouble of talking too much and I don't bother to listen to his endless chatter."

Zhang Juzheng was speechless, then smiled bitterly.

Wang Ting, the Left Censor-in-Chief, relied on his seniority and his favorite thing to do was to educate the younger generation.

When the censor reports on his work, the main business will be quickly passed by, and in the end it will turn into a lecture class where he will explain the meaning of scriptures and discuss the principles of heaven.

After the breakup, Zhang Juzheng went to the post house first.

According to the court regulations, those who were ordered to go out of the capital on official business were not allowed to go home first after returning to the capital, but had to go back to the government office to report on their work. If they needed to wait for a period, they would have to stay in the post house.

Therefore, officials would first go to the post house, wash up, change clothes, and then go to their respective government offices to submit their notices and wait for their turn to report on their work.

After Zhang Juzheng washed up, he ate some snacks and changed into a new official uniform brought by his servants. He got on the sedan chair and headed for the Meridian Gate.

Given Xu Jie's high regard for him, it was natural for him to get promoted as soon as he joined him.

"Uncle, you've worked hard along the way!" Xu Jie looked at his favorite student with a smile, "You've gotten darker, but stronger."

"The teacher is very kind and caring towards the students, and the students are very grateful."

"Haha," Xu Jie smiled and pointed at the chair, saying, "Uncle, please take a seat. Bring us the tea. I'll use the Dongting Mountain Autumn Tea that Yanshan sent us a few days ago."

"Yes!" the servant replied outside the door.

"Yanshan? Li Wanqing, the governor of Suzhou?"

"Yes, he came to Beijing to report on his work a few days ago and brought me some autumn tea from Dongting Mountain in Taihu Lake." Xu Jie replied.

Li Wanqing was a Jinshi selected during the imperial examination presided over by Xu Jie.

Zhang Juzheng didn't take the matter to heart and turned to ask about government affairs: "Teacher, I heard that Li Shilu and Bosihaer have reached an agreement?"

"Yes, after two or three months of discussion, we finally reached an agreement."

Zhang Juzheng waited patiently for further instructions.

"Our dynasty named Altan Khan the Prince of Shunyi, named Xinai the Duke of Zhongshun, and gave him 160 carts of gold, silver and silk.
Agree to open horse markets in Fengzhen, Datong, Yanghe, Tiancheng, and Zhangjiakou to trade with the north. The Coordination Bureau issued nine trade licenses, and the north was only allowed to trade with licensed businesses at five checkpoints, buy and sell goods according to the catalog and pay customs duties according to the law.
Altan Khan agreed to restrain his people, not to force buying and selling, and not to disturb the border at will. If anyone disturbs the border, our dynasty can close the border and suspend business.
Altan Khan arrested more than a thousand members of the White Lotus sect leader Zhao Quan's gang who had fled to the south of the desert, as well as more than a thousand other sea robbers who had fled to the south of the desert, and returned them to our dynasty."

Xu Jie briefly recounted the content of the peace talks, and finally said meaningfully: "In the emperor's edict, Bosihaer was named the chief envoy of the Tumed tribe, and Xin Ai was named the deputy envoy."

Zhang Juzheng smiled, this was to cover up for Xin Ai and save her face. However, the battle of Liuhe had already spread all over the southern desert. No matter how hard he tried to cover it up, Xin Ai and Huang Taiji's face had already been trampled.

Xu Jie saw Zhang Juzheng's expression, guessed what he was thinking, and said leisurely, "Xin Ai Huang Taiji's face is worthless, Altan Khan's face is valuable!"

Zhang Juzheng understood immediately.

Xu Jie stroked his beard and asked, "Did Uncle Da gain anything from his trip to Liaodong this time?"

"Teacher, I have discovered some malpractices in horse administration this time. After reporting to you, I will go to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue to argue with them."

Xu Jie waved his hand disapprovingly, "I know your uncle's temper, and I also know something about the local situation. I would be surprised if you don't find out some bad policies. Just go ahead."

Xu Jie listened absentmindedly to Zhang Juzheng's brief account of the matter, "Well, I know about this matter, uncle, just do it."

Then he asked quietly: "Uncle, there is something happening during the Mid-Autumn Festival, do you know?"

Zhang Juzheng was stunned: "Teacher, what happened on Mid-Autumn Festival?"

(End of this chapter)